Chick-lit Plagiarism

[shipperx]

I had read about this somewhere else recently (don't remember where) but I just saw this article posted (complete with phrases from the books in questions).  You know, some of them do seem to be blatant plagiarism.  However, I dare say the one with 'gazing' and 'dark eyes' isn't plaguarism so much as cliche.

Harvard author loses her book deal

Comments

[timeofchange.livejournal.com]

Yes, you can find those same dark eyes all over fanficdom. Hee.

The rest, however, look like plagerism to me...or, rather, it reminds me of how a young person would interpret "in your own words" for a school paper. I'm talking middle school or younger, here.

[mlgm.livejournal.com]

The more I read about this girl, the more I have to wonder about the parents and the strange publishing house she was working with. She was old enough to know what she was doing was wrong; but I wonder what kind of pressure she was under.

And I wonder how much of the book she wrote.

[kellyhk.livejournal.com]

Apparently it went beyond the cliches. She had 40 or so seperate passages that mirrored another novel and used the excuse "I accidentally incorporated them into my psyche" or whatever the equivalent to the dog ate my homework.

But hey! I get to use my plagiarism icon again! w00t.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

I've been following this avidly, and it's fascinating stuff. Basically, she seems to be the literary equivalent of a boy band. The packager came up with the concept, then went looking for a pretty and PR-worthy "author," writing talent optional. What's especially interesting is that the week before the scandal broke, she told an interviewer that she hadn't been influenced by anyone while writing.